Just Keep Walking
by Blobfishington
Summary: They're just following Whitebeard's orders. She's just determined to keep walking down the road. But... who is she again? AcexOc.
1. C'mon Girl

There was an age-old saying: easy come, easy go.

Ellie never paid much mind to it. Nothing in life came easy, she knew this, therefore that saying was a load of stinky bull. It wasn't until today she realized that while the first half of that saying was complete poppycock, the second half hit closer to the truth; all she could do was stare as a group of thieves stood before her. With shiny knives out. Some with even shinier guns.

"Hand over your bag and that'll be the end of it." The one at the front said, daring to grin and show his missing teeth in the process. Others behind him nodded, the way they edged their weapons closer telling her otherwise. Typical. Of course she was being threatened in the New World, in broad daylight, in _public_.

"Lower your weapons and I'll hand over my bag." Ellie said, mimicking his cadence.

"Tch, you're a funny lass." He wasn't amused.

"And you're a liar." She told him. "I'm not stupid. You're going to stab me as soon as you take my stuff. And that's only if I'm lucky and you leave it at that."

She took a quick glance around her, trying to spot any escape routes she could take.

None. Of course not.

"You know, I really wasn't going to do anything to you if you handed over your bag, but… well, I wouldn't want to disappoint you." The man offered her a nasty smirk, reaching for her bag and snatching it. Ellie didn't try to resist, figuring he would have knocked her down anyway. She did, however, take a step back— focusing her eyes somewhere behind the thieves with great interest.

Let's take a moment to rewind.

In the vast New World, there lived a little island by the name of Alegria. It was one of the unknown islands frequently over-looked by the world, its only neighbors being two different Marine bases. The occasional pirate ship stumbled upon the island, but they usually left within a day because of the close proximity to the Marines.

The interesting thing about Alegria had to be the fact that it housed an organization of thieves. No, they aren't the Thieves Guild of Skyrim; they're too stupid, too unsophisticated to be of that caliber. One sample of their stupidity?

They decided to be badasses and steal from Whitebeard's ship, the Moby Dick.

Whitebeard and his men had been out at sea as usual and, having exhausted all of their supplies, docked at the nearest island: Alegria. Of course word spread quickly about it. It was Whitebeard after all, one of the Four Emperors, Strongest Man in the World, the closest to being Pirate King one can get. And, of course, the thieves heard about it too. Their simplistic thought process went something like this: Whitebeard was one of the Four Emperors. As an Emperor, he must have a whole trove of treasure. The treasure had to be on that gigantic ship of his. His crew, and himself, were out getting supplies. The ship must be empty. Let's steal their mass of treasure.

Maybe we could give them _some_ credit and say their stupidity was bravery and they weren't as big of idiots as they seemed; they actually managed to sneak onto the Moby Dick without being detected— a fluke, maybe? Thatch _had_ fallen asleep while on guard… — and find the treasure room. What they didn't count on was Thatch waking up and seeing them as they took the front entrance to leave.

They didn't even have the decency to look ashamed at being caught.

A good deal of the thieves got their asses handed to them by Thatch then and there; but Thatch was only one person, no matter how skilled he was, and the thieves worked in quantity. Four of them managed to get away, each one with a bag of treasure. Thatch wasted no time in informing his captain and fellow commanders; Whitebeard wasted no time in sending them out to search for the thieves.

Now, maybe we _should_ go back to calling the thieves stupid.

Instead of hiding, instead of laying low after pissing off the world's strongest crew, they decided to mug Ellie. For no real reason, too, other than because she just so happened to be there.

Back to the present.

Ellie, fortunately, wasn't as stupid as them. She knew she wouldn't be able to stop them from taking her bag. She also knew she couldn't fight them— especially since two had knives and two a gun. But she noticed how loose the soil of the dirt path they stood upon was. She noticed how, whenever the wind blew, it picked up the dirt and carried it along. She hoped her luck would lighten up; at least for this one moment.

"What're you staring at?" the thief asked, glancing towards the direction she focused her eyes on with feigned interest.

Without missing a beat, Ellie tensed her leg and kicked into the surface of the ground, kicking up a lot of soil right when the man was returning his gaze to her. It got into his eyes, making him take a few steps back while yelling; he bumped into his buddies, causing them to lose their balance and drop their weapons.

Knowing this wouldn't last for longer than a minute, Ellie decided to abandon her bag and make a run for it. Her legs carried her as fast as they could; the wind bit into her face, making strands of hair whip against her skin with little stings. It didn't take long for her to hear the angry shouts of men behind her; to hear the rhythmic _thump-thump-thump_ of their boots stamping into the ground, to feel their eyes burn into her back like heat rays intensified by a magnifying glass.

Ellie took as many unexpected turns as she could, hoping to deter their speed. How fast they could run alarmed her, and she was starting to get tired. With each turn she made, each step she took, she could hear them getting closer; to the point she could feel their presence beginning to over-come her senses—

Then she smacked into someone.

"Whoa! Sorry there, are you— hey! You're those assholes!"

Ellie adjusted her sunglasses and looked up. The man she ran into sported a brown pompadour and a yellow neck scarf. He was bent over in mid-action, arm reaching for her to help her up. Next to him stood a younger, freckled-face man. For one, tense, moment a stare-down between the men and the thieves happened.

The next moment found the pompadour man chasing after them.

All Ellie could do was blink at the sudden turn of events, still sprawled on the ground from the impact. A hand in front of her face shook her from her daze.

"Sorry about that!" the freckled-faced person said. He pulled her up quickly and, bowing low in apology, looked her once over. "I don't mean to hit-and-run, but I've gotta go."

And just like that, he ran off. As he ran in the direction his friend went, Ellie noticed it; the Whitebeard Jolly Roger tattooed into his back. It took her only a second more to realize the man she smacked into was Thatch, Commander of the Fourth Division, and the freckled one was _the_ Firefist Ace.

* * *

The moon hovered in the sky, its white color a stark contrast to the near-black blue of the space around it. More people were out and about at this time, making their way to parties, pubs and local attractions. Ellie sat in one of those pubs, at a table. After a long day of being robbed and chased, she felt she deserved a nice dinner.

Food also helped her thinking.

What was she going to do? She needed that bag. As a traveler, her _life _was in it. And a good deal of her money, which was one of the important aspects of it. The other, slightly more important one, was those documents she had stashed in there. It relieved her that those idiots wouldn't be able to read them as they were all encoded but that was just the very small silver lining in an otherwise shitty situation. Sighing the sigh of all sighs, she placed her spoon down.

Surveying the room without much gusto, she jolted when she spotted Commander Thatch and Firefist Ace a ways down. They weren't alone; others were with them, and judging by the seriousness etched into their faces she assumed they were unsuccessful in whatever it was Thatch wanted to do to those thieves earlier. She felt a moment of sympathy for them.

Maybe Ellie stared a second too long, though, for she caught Thatch's attention. He squinted in her direction before giving a wave.

"He-e-e-e-e-ey! You're that girl." He called. Before she could even offer an awkward smile, he got up and made his way over to her. He didn't wait for an invitation to sit down.

"Hi." Ellie said, unconsciously straightening.

"I didn't get to apologize for earlier."

It took her a moment to realize what he meant. "Apologize? But I'm the one who ran into you."

He shook his head. "I should've been watching where I was going."

Ellie couldn't shake the feeling that he had it reversed but decided to just leave it alone.

"Ooo-kay, well don't worry about it." With a twitch, she shrugged one shoulder and forced a little smile.

"So uuh… between you and me, what were those guys chasing you for?"

"Oh, well they stole my bag so I threw dirt in their eyes."

"They stole from you too? Damn."

Ellie blinked. Too? So they…

"They stole from the Whitebeard pirates." She couldn't help saying that out loud, furrowing her brow and smile stiffening.

"I know. They're not the brightest." Thatch, voicing her unspoken words, rolled his eyes. "They stole quite a lot from us. We're trying to hunt them down."

An idea bloomed in Ellie's mind. Maybe she could get her bag back after all.

"I know where their hide-out is." Ellie started slowly, lifting her eyebrows in a mock casual manner.

"You do?" Thatch asked.

"I do. Actually, they don't really keep their hide-out a secret 'cause no one's ever dared break into it."

"We've gotta change that, now haven't we?" Thatch grinned, his cordial face donning a hint of malice.

"Yeah. I think so."

* * *

A/N- And so ends this first chapter. Or prologue. Whatever you want it to be.

This is my second attempt at writing a fanfiction and I am rustyyyyyyyy. My writing will probably be very choppy at first but please! Critiques are begged for!

I also won't have a regular updating schedule. Between work and school, the time spent writing this story will vary. I will let you know I'm almost done with the second chapter, though.

Also, this story will be slightly AU. Only slight. I'm making my own little changes every here and there and if you'll have a problem with that in the future... well, it's not my problem to care. You've been warned. xD

Reviews would be much loved. :) Thanks for reading!


	2. Fortune Faded

There's this feeling which everyone must have felt at least once in their life time. A fish-out-of-water feeling, except much scarier because said fish happened to jump into the middle of a circle of blood-thirsty cats. Or, to offer a more human variant, that feeling of being a little timid child surrounded by pissed off teachers, all of which force you to stay after the bell until your work is done. Ellie hates that feeling, but it's an accurate description of her current state of mind.

She was surrounded by all 16 Whitebeard Division Commanders.

To make it worse, Whitebeard himself sat in front of them all.

To make it much worse, his eyes were on her.

Holy hell.

"So I've been told you know where these thieves hide." For an old man, Whitebeard's voice flowed with a deep steadiness.

"Yeah, I do." Ellie jerked her head in a nod. She became aware of just how tiny she was, so she straightened out of her slouch.

"How?"

"Like I told your Commander, they don't exactly keep it a secret. Anyone who's bothered going for a walk around town has spotted it at least once."

Whitebeard's eyes, without losing any of its coolness, studied her face minutely. It almost made her feel like a test subject under intense scrutiny. She couldn't help but shift in place.

"Tell me what you know about them."

"Well…" Ellie started slowly, noticing she was center stage as all eyes stayed on her. It took her a moment to decide where to start.

"I haven't been on this island long, but my understanding is they're an island-wide organization of thieves. It's a bit weird, what with the Marines being so close by, but I've heard they're bribing them. Which I guess makes sense, since the Marines would have to be _really_ stupid not notice them."

"Nothing new there." One of the Commanders chimed in.

She wondered if he meant the stupid part or the bribing part.

"Yeah, well… so their hide-out…." Her eyes went up in thought as she shrugged her shoulders. "There's this hill at the northeastern edge of town, a pretty big one. If you walk around it you'll see an entrance dug into the foot of it. It's one of those entrances that, y'know, take you underground."

"Hmm, is that the only entrance?" Marco, one of the few Commanders she instantly recognized, asked.

"That I know of, yes, but it's unlikely to be their only entrance. Any decent organization would have at least one other, and as thick-headed as these guys seem to be I'm compelled to believe they must be doing _something_ right to have such a strong-hold on Alegria."

Whitebeard stayed silent as she continued on. That scrutiny never left his eyes.

"Is there anything else we should know, eh?" Marco asked.

Ellie hesitated. Why yes, there was more. And yes, they should know it. But would her knowledge of it raise their suspicions and make them distrust her? She already got the feeling Whitebeard didn't trust her, what with all that eyeballing he's doing of her. If she told them any more than this, surely that would trigger a red-flag. They would question why she had such knowledge; after all, as far as they knew, she was just an unfortunate victim of some local thieves. Telling them the real reason wouldn't be an option either; that would blow her cover, and besides, the explanation would take way too long and reveal way too many secrets that weren't hers to tell.

So Ellie, trudging on, took the safe path and lied. "The only other thing I can offer you is a rumor I heard that the entrance leads to two different spiral staircases that go further down. If you take the wrong one you end up in a... dead end, of sorts… but again, it's a rumor so I wouldn't know how reliable it is."

She forced herself to look Marco dead in the eye as she said that, trying her best not to tense up. It wasn't a complete lie, she told herself.

"Alright then." Marco nodded. He turned to look at his Captain. "What's the plan, Pops?"

In response, Whitebeard leaned back in his seat and, finally, took his eyes off of the girl. A glint shone in them, quick-thinking and all-knowing. Experienced.

"Sneak and attack." He said. "Get in without the brats knowing and get them by surprise. Take the girl with you."

"We're not just barging in?" One of the other Commanders, (Izou, Ellie thinks), quirked an eyebrow.

"No. If they're in cahoots with the Marines, one signal from them can have pests from the two bases here in minutes. We aren't finished stocking up on supplies. As for the girl…" he glanced at her, no real emotion in his face. "… she knows more about this town and the thieves than we do. She might be useful for a quick escape, if it comes down to that."

"Sounds reasonable." Marco said.

"No objections, I trust." Whitebeard directed that to Ellie, no question in his tone. She shook her head obediently.

"No, that's fine. I need to get my belongings back anyway."

"Thatch, Ace, and Jozu; take the girl and have her show you this entrance. Marco, I want to have a word with you. The rest of you get your divisions to hurry up with those supplies. I want to be ready for sailing by tomorrow night. Meet back on the ship at sunset."

A chorus of aye-aye's rang across the deck as everyone scattered to complete their obligations. With a quick, deep, breath Ellie stood up and, shrugging off her stiffness, looked around. Thatch, Ace, and who she assumed to be Jozu made their way to her.

"Y'know I don't think we ever got your name." Thatch said, lightly scratching at his stubble.

"Oh! Uhm, Ellie. Ellie Ethan." She smiled, shaking his hand and nodding to the other two.

"We'll have time for formalities later. Let's just get this over with." Jozu said, gruff voice easily matching his huge stature and stony face. Thatch made a show of sighing.

"Chill, will yah'? We have time now."

Ellie shook her head. "It's fine. He's right. The sooner we scout the place, the better. If we wait too long we risk being seen snooping around."

"Speaking of scouting, that's something else we should know. They might have someone standing guard." Ace said.

"We can keep an eye out for them. Thieves, bandits, thugs… they all dress the same for some weird reason…." Thatch turned to Ellie. "After you, missy."

* * *

Surveillance is the single most boring part about scouting for information. All you do is sit and stare. And stare. And stare. For so many goddamn hours. You can't do anything, nor move, until you see what you need to see, assuming it even happens at all.

Jozu and Ellie handled it fairly well, but the other two…

"Ugggghhhh, I am so-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o b-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-red!" Ace sighed, leaning back so he could no longer look through the bushes.

Thatch nodded his miserable agreement. "I rather be collecting supplies about now…"

"Why do we have to sit here? Why not just barge right in through that door, knock a few heads together, and get out?" Ace asked, words accompanied by arm gestures.

"Because the Marines. That's why." Ellie said. "Remember they're partners."

"So? We can kick their asses." Ace huffed. "We're the damn Whitebeard pirates!"

"I'm with you, but Pops said no. We do as he says." Thatch said. Or sighed. Either one works.

"We won't be here much longer." Jozu added, which caught them by surprise. Those were the first words they heard from him in a while. They all followed his eyes over the bushes they hid behind, to a point near the entrance of the hide-out. Two thieves could be seen walking towards it.

"Man, what a boring day." They heard one say. A yawn followed the statement.

"You'd think with them pirates here the town would be a bit more lively."

"He-he-he! Those dumbasses? I can't believe our guys actually managed to steal from them. I guess that old-fart Whitebeard and his idiot 'sons' aren't as tough as they say."

A rustling and the feeling of movement caught Ellie's attention. She cast a side-long glance, only to see Jozu and Thatch each place a hand on Ace's shoulder. The three of them looked unhappy, — well, Jozu always looked unhappy but more so now than ever— frowns deep and eyes narrowed. For a split second Ellie felt nervous, hoping they wouldn't do anything rash. But the moment passed and the two thieves continued on.

"What a disappoint, yeah." The other said. "Ah well. Who's on watch tomorrow night? 'S-not us, is it?"

"I think it is."

"Fuck. I was hoping to get some pretty lady action…"

"Tch. As if any lady wants you."

The two opened the door embedded into the bottom of the hill and went in. They waited in the silence of the shadows, a gentle wind blowing. When no other activity occurred, Ellie turned to look at the three Commanders.

"So… what did we learn?" she asked.

"That they need their asses kicked." Ace said.

"Sorely." Thatch added.

"And we'll get our chance tomorrow night." Jozu finished.

"We also learned that they don't patrol the immediate area." Ellie added a bit of pep in her tone to lighten the mood. "And that they keep the entrance unlocked, seeing as they just threw the door open without a key."

"It didn't look like anyone was inside when they walked in." Thatch stared at the door, focusing hard as if he'd be able to see right through it. "Judging by the lack of a foot-trail in the ground, they probably don't come in this way often."

"I think we should look around for a second entrance then." Jozu said.

"Well…" Ellie released a breath through her nose. "If there's a second entrance, I'm guessing it'd be either in the entertainment district or in the hotel district. That's where you see the most of them lurking about."

"If there was nobody inside when they walked in… I think we should take a chance and go in right now." Ace said.

"Ace, Pops said—"

"I know what Pops said. I'm not suggesting we barge in and beat them up right now. All I'm saying is, we can't sneak in effectively knowing only the outside and you gotta admit there ain't much to know in that respect." Ace's eyes focused on the door. "We need to know what the inside is like. Get a little peak before we can really plan anything."

"I don't know…" Thatch frowned. "What if they see you? All of this will be for nothing."

"If it's one or two of them, I can knock them out and hide them somewhere." Ace shrugged.

"And if it's more?"

"… I can knock them out and hide them somewhere."

Thatch laughed. Even Jozu submitted to closing his eyes and smiling.

"I still think we should look for a second entrance." Jozu said.

"Then let's split up. Ellie, you go with Jozu and try and find that other entrance. Ace and I will sneak in the best we can. Meet back in an hour?"

"Sounds good." Ellie said, shrugging. "Follow me."

Nothing much happened in that hour. Jozu and Ellie walked around, probably the most awkward pair one ever did see. With his giant size you could barely see Ellie next to him, taking quick strides to keep up with his normal ones. Words were scarce between the two; he only spoke when he deemed it important. Ellie didn't pay much mind to that, instead trying to focus on spotting the thieves and whether they came up from a suspicious looking area, or if they suspiciously gathered around somewhere, or, really, if they did anything suspicious at all.

Ellie worried, though, that she and Jozu looked suspicious themselves, walking around all quiet with their eyes darting about everything. But the people of the town, after getting over their initial thought of how awkward the pair was, simply ignored them the next thought and went on with their business. They didn't even attract the attention of the few thieves they did walk pass; though that was due to the fact that said thieves were going on one hell of a shopping spree. Ellie noticed, with understanding, Jozu gritting his teeth whenever he saw the thieves walking out of a shop with goodie bags the size of mountains.

The hour, along with the sun, neared its end. They walked along the hotel district, taking deliberate steps, eyes lingering on the cracks in the ground; the shadows of the alleys; the holes in the walls. Hordes of people walked out of doorways, dressed to impress, trophy wives in tow. Jozu sighed. Ellie frowned.

A thief popped out of the night.

"Whoa, what the hell was that?" Ellie, doing a double take, stopped in her tracks. By the way his eyebrow rose, she figured Jozu saw it too.

"That man… it's like he came from thin air."

The thief walked off.

"No…" Ellie walked towards the spot he appeared from, taking care as if expecting another to show up. Jozu followed in her steed. He eyed the area carefully; it was the corner of a shabby looking hotel, walls made of wooden planking. Looked pretty damn ordinary with its dead brown color and slight mold.

"Look." he pointed to a spot in the wall. Ellie went up to it, running her hand over it.

"This crack is bigger than the others…" she said, more to herself. "But it's just this one. It doesn't seem to make a door shape."

Jozu stared at it, saying nothing. She dug the tips of her fingers into it as much as possible. She didn't get very far, but it was enough to feel the bottom of the surprisingly thin wood. Retracting her fingers, she looked up the wall, to the side, down. Dirt laid piled in a straight row parallel to the wall. The space between the thin dirt pile and the wall was smooth, as if something passed over it recently. Eyes darting between the ground and the wall, Ellie looked up to Jozu.

"The entire thing moves." She said.

"I thought about that." He nodded, still staring at the wall. "Probably not a lot, otherwise it'd make too much noise."

"They probably have it hooked onto some quick pulley mechanism. The wood's really thin. I'm sure it moves fast."

"It doesn't seem like a practical entrance though."

"Maybe it's just an exit."

"Maybe. But then where's the entrance?"

Ellie shrugged, shaking her head. "Nearby hopefully."

They slowly walked along the wall of the hotel, scanning the ground, the cracks in the walls, everything they could see in this dimming light.

"Here." Jozu stopped, pointing to a spot right in front of him. Ellie studied it. A smooth square of grey stone lay partially hidden by dirt. At one corner was a subtle, almost invisible, bump. A button; Ellie tapped it with her foot. The stone square slid to the left, slowly and silently, until a deep hole appeared. It sunk into gradual darkness; they couldn't see where it led to.

"I think we're good." Ellie said after a moment of silence.

"Yeah." Jozu looked to the sky, the deep orange melting into purple. "Let's go back to the others."

Ellie made a mental note of the hotel's name. She and Jozu jostled off, knowing their hour was well passed its end.

* * *

"There you guys are!" Thatch jumped out of the bushes as soon as he spotted the bulky figure of Jozu and the tinier Ellie.

"I was worried you guys stood us up." Ace said, stretching a few kinks out of his arms.

"We found something at the last minute." Jozu crossed his arms, nodding at them.

"Good enough." Thatch said, placing his arms behind his head. A grin spread across his face, quick and wide. "I don't think we'll have any problem sneaking in anymore."

"Oh yeah?" Ellie asked. "Got to look around just fine?"

"Mostly, yeah. What you said about the entrance was partially right. The entrance leads to a staircase, but the two spiral staircases aren't until you pass their bedding areas."

"But we figure we only need to go up to where they sleep, make them shit themselves a little, then have one show us where they're keeping our treasure." Ace said.

"Okay cool, so we're all set?" Ellie asked.

"Definitely. Let's head back to the ship." Thatch nodded towards the port. "They must be waiting."

Maybe Ellie overreacted earlier in feeling like a fish surrounded by bloodthirsty cats. With all said and done, the Commanders weren't bad people. They just looked it. But she really shouldn't be judging books by their covers, especially not at this age. Once sunset came upon them, they all met back on the Moby Dick as instructed by their Captain. The Commanders in charge of collecting supplies happily reported their successes in securing provisions. Ace all-too-eagerly announced his brilliant plan of breaking into the hide-out early on, with Thatch joining him in explaining all that they saw while in there. Whitebeard didn't seem concerned by their bold actions— he was beyond used to it, and even smiled a little. Jozu went on to give the location of the entrance he and Ellie found. She couldn't help but notice Marco giving her the once over, but she put it off as him adopting his Captain's mistrust.

A little bit of mixing the gathered information and some planning later found them all satisfied. Six of the Commanders would stay behind in the off-chance the Marines came. Five of them would be in the area of the entrance Jozu and Ellie found, two of them near it and the other three patrolling the perimeter. The other five, plus Ellie, would go in the way Ace and Thatch had. If any of the thieves tried exiting through the hotel, they'd be stopped by the Commanders posted there. If any tried sailing away, the Commanders on the Moby Dick could stop them. The ones sleeping inside the hide-out would have a rude awakening.

Once everything was retrieved, they'd get out, board the Moby Dick and sail off. Ellie would go her separate way.

Simple enough. Kind of. Well, no. Thinking back on it, they realized it really wasn't that simple.

A black cat crossed their path and meowed. That started it, really.

Ellie ignored it, as did the other Commanders, while they waited for Thatch to open the door and give them the okay to enter.

The cat meowed again, this time louder. He was probably a stray cat, starved of food and affection. Ellie felt pity for him but couldn't be bothered right now. Thatch held a thumbs up, beckoning them to follow him in.

The cat decided to invite himself along. They didn't notice until he meowed again.

"The hell is this cat doing here?" Marco asked, looking at it with something akin to disgust.

"Don't know." Ace lifted an eyebrow.

"It's just a cat. He won't cause any trouble." Vista assured them.

As if on cue, the cat meowed again. Even louder than the first two times. They all stared at it.

"… shoo! Shoo-o-o-o-o-o-o!" Thatch waved his hands in front of the cat. The cat simply blinked, wondering why he was being so stupid. He meowed.

"Damn cat won't budge…"

Another meow.

"Uhm, we should be going." Ellie said, pointing to the path ahead of them. "If that cat gets too noisy just grab his muzzle to quiet him."

They forged on, going down a set of grey stone staircases. Dust shot up with each step they took, try as they might to tread carefully. The cat slinked on ahead of them, occasionally sneezing, tail flicking back and forth. He would glance back at the group every now and then, enjoying the feel of people following him even though, really, they weren't. But someone starved of affection didn't mind lying to themselves on little things like these.

"We're about to get to their bedding area." Ace whispered, grin in place.

The cat meowed in response.

Without thinking, Thatch shushed it. Loudly. Making the cat reply with a much louder meow, protesting Thatch's rudeness.

"What was that noise?" A voice asked from further ahead. They all froze. The cat glanced around at his little group, tail still flicking, noticing they stopped. Meowing again, he started running down the stairs to continue his leading, much to the alarm of them all. Ellie hastened after him, staying close and low to the wall. She heard faint footsteps in front of her, echoing back and forth along the path and into her ears. It's okay. They still had a chance. When the staircase ends, the hallway veers off to the right, she remembered that from before, then there was a door, and then the sleeping area. The place was dark and the cat black. Maybe the thieves wouldn't see it right away. Besides, they'd have to open the door. If she could get the cat before they opened the door, they'd be fine.

Ellie cursed under her breath. Why was this cat so damn fast?

"C'mere kitty! Aren't you so precious?" she cooed quietly to him. The cat glanced behind him, tail flick-flick-flicking, never slowing.

"C'mon kitty, I'll pet you if you come here." Ellie made a kissy face, which the cat turned away from rather quickly.

They were nearing the bottom of the staircase, the cat a dark blur, the footsteps ahead of her getting louder; she could hear the voices much clearer now and she wondered if they already passed the door. It confused her. She didn't hear a door opening, yet she heard them clear as day.

"What do you think?"

"Probably those rats we saw yesterday. Be ready."

Ellie stopped her descent, throwing herself against the wall. She huddled as low to the ground as possible, seeing two shadows below her. The cat seemed to sense her sudden halt. He slowed to look at her before stopping as well. His eyes darted between her, the Whitebeard pirates further up the stairs, and the two shadows below him. Ellie pursed her lips together in dismay, knowing he would do it.

The cat meowed. And meowed. And meowed. And kept meowing.

"The fuck? Is that the cat?" The voice almost sounded offended.

"I don't even…"

Lights flooded the entire passageway as torches on the walls burst into flames. The two thieves at the bottom— the same ones from the night before— blinked as they stared at the occupied staircase. The Whitebeard Commanders face-palmed into oblivion. The damn cat stared at them all, smiling, before meowing it's annoying meow for the umpteenth time. The meow broke the moment of shock; reality kicked in, the thieves yelled, the Commanders pounced. Ellie shook her head, a voice in the back of her mind telling her to just keep on.

As the Commanders handled the two thieves, Ellie walked on, not wanting to join in. Ace, Thatch and Jozu used a little more force than they needed, Marco and Vista not so much as they lacked the vengeful fuel of the other three.

When she reached the bottom of the stair case, she saw the door to the far right. As it should be. Except it was locked. With a padlock. As it _shouldn't_ be. Two sleeping bags set up near it. The hell? It wasn't like that before. She frowned at the cat, who stared at her with wide green eyes.

"What now, Señor Kitty?"

"Meow."

"Great idea." Ellie pulled out a torque wrench and lock pick from one of the many pouches on her belt.

"_Meow._"

"_Shush_ Señor Kitty. Don't rush me."

It took her a minute to align the pins against the shear line, thus opening the padlock with a small _click_.

Ellie looked back to the Commanders. Thatch was in the middle of giving one a _wedgie_ _of all things_, Ace laughing, while the other was being thrown around like a beach ball by the rest. She couldn't help but think of elementary school bullies in a playground tormenting the younger ones. Except on steroids or something. Lots of steroids.

"All done?" Marco asked her. She nodded.

"Let's go… but hold onto the cat, eh. Caused enough trouble for the night."

The now-named Señor Kitty stared at Ellie. Rolling her eyes, she grabbed him with one arm; he snuggled all up on her without hesitating.

Thatch walked to the door, eyes crinkling. "Pass here is the bedding area. Get ready for more of these idiots." He grinned. He grabbed the handle and, preparing himself, pushed open the door.

Darkness.

"Ace?"

"On it." Golden-orange fire engulfed his arm, sending waves of light into the dark room. Ellie couldn't shake off how weird it was to see a man's arm on fire and said man being perfectly calm about it. She was the only one; the others simply walked into the room, Ace in lead, without batting an eye. That fish-out-of-water feeling surged through her once again, something telling her she was way out of her league here. Well, that should be obvious, the more she thought about it.

As they walked into the room, tense and ready for battle, they couldn't help but notice one _tiny_ yet _blaring_ detail; the beds were empty. The room; empty, too. They walked around, searching every open area, every space under every mattress in every corner. There wasn't much, but they did so just in case someone was hiding under a bed or in a corner or maybe just derping around for fun. But no such luck.

"Hm. What now?" Vista placed a hand on his hip.

"We just keep going." Ace shrugged.

"Aren't you curious where the others are, though?"

"It's possible they heard us." Ellie said. "I mean, you guys _did _ very loudly bully those two back there."

"It wasn't _bullying_, dear Ellie. It was just… retribution." Thatch grinned.

"Doesn't matter what it was. She might be right; if they heard us they may have bolted their asses out of here." Marco ran a hand through his scruff of blonde hair.

"What I don't get is why they had the door locked in the first place. They went through the trouble of padlocking it." Jozu was frowning as he spoke.

"Meow."

"Not now, Señor Kitty." Ellie cooed. The cat whacked her with his tail. She stared at him, wondering if he was the demon cat from hell. He stared at her back, that expression of an almost-smile in place; green, slitted eyes full of that lively knowledge only animals possessed. Something deep down in Ellie stirred, like a long-forgotten memory trying to force its way back up to her cognizance but unable to.

"We won't get any answers standing around." Ace proceeded to walk to the next door, inspecting it for a moment. Padlock free, he noted with satisfaction. Grabbing the door handle, he soon became shocked—

Literally.

"Agggh! What the fuck!" he yelled, jumping back, clutching his hand.

Thatch laughed at Ace's misfortune. It earned him a Death Glare from the young pyro.

"That's… weird." Marco stooped in front of the door, staring intently at the knob. He could see the little device that shocked Ace but couldn't for the life of him figure out why it was there.

"Something is up." Vista surveyed the room, tense, trying to see pass the walls, to everything and beyond. "They have a lot of extra security on their doors and no one is here. Doesn't look like _anyone's_ been here for a while now."

"Hey you two made it pass here, didn't you?" Marco asked, looking at Ace and Thatch. They shared a glance before shrugging, Thatch twisting his hand in that "half/half" way.

"Well…"

"Kind of…"

"More like we opened the door and took a peak—"

"Didn't actually go _in_ there—"

"Didn't feel the need to—"

Marco found himself face-palming for the second time tonight.

"You guys are idiots." He told them.

"So… what now then?" Ellie asked, looking at Señor Kitty as she spoke. Señor Kitty tilted his head to the side, eyes narrowing in thought.

"You know more about these thieves than we do." Jozu said. "Do you think they'd have the propensity to lead us into a trap?"

"… it's… very well possible." Her eyebrow quirked as she swore she saw Señor Kitty nod to Jozu's question. Blinking, she looked to the Commanders.

"I don't think we should go through the door."

"No? Why not?" Marco asked. His gaze, though lazy, felt sharp; piercing through her as he waited for an answer. The idea of him not trusting her surfaced to her mind again and she frowned. She didn't exactly blame him if he didn't trust her. What was she to them? Just a nobody, a tool to lead them to where they wanted to go. Why Whitebeard even asked to have her taken along was beyond her. Unless… he knew something about her? But she doubted it.

"As your Commander said," Ellie nodded towards Vista. "Something is up. I mean they have all this extra security, and those two guys said something about, 'Those rats we saw yesterday' earlier. I think they knew we were coming. Beyond that door is probably a trap."

_And the Water Room, _she finished in her mind. Marco continued to stare at Ellie, face as impassive as ever but with this glint in his eyes as if having an internal dispute.

"Who're they calling rats?" Thatch asked with a scoff.

"They probably saw you and Ace sneaking in yesterday." Jozu frowned.

"This place was empty though! They couldn't of."

"Was it completely empty?" Ellie asked, looking between Ace and Thatch.

Thatch nodded. "Completely."

"Even though you two snuck in _right after_ those two thieves returned? Shouldn't _they_ have been there, at the very least?"

Silence. Thatch shared another look with Ace.

"Well," he started slowly. "We assumed they went to bed."

"But you didn't actually see them in this room? Even though you two said you reached this-" she pointed to the door that shocked Ace "- door? They weren't in this room, like, at all?" Ellie asked, one eyebrow perched on her forehead. The cat in her arms began to fidget, pushing its paws against her arm. With an impatient roll of her eyes, she dropped Señor Kitty onto the ground and let him run off.

"Where exactly are you going with this?" Ace asked, though by the defensive tone of his voice she could tell he already knew.

"I'm thinking you guys weren't exactly all that careful as you should've been and they saw you, let their pals know, and now we're fucked." She said, placing a hand on her hip.

"Hate to say it, but I agree with the girl." Vista said. "And if they really did know we were coming, this night is going to end badly."

A moment of heavy silence passed, interrupted by the soft thud of the cat walking towards the entrance.

Finally, Marco spoke. "Let's head back to the ship."

He still had a queer look whenever his eyes landed on Ellie but she ignored it. Disappointment came over her at the thought of being unable to retrieve her bag. All the hard work the thing contained… she'd have to re-do every. Single. Last. Bit. She supposed the lack of a time limit was a bright side. The only bright side. But her mind wouldn't abandon the thought of so much wasted time on her part. Fuck.

The sound of a much louder thud caught Ellie's attention, snapping her out of her moment of sulking. Her eyes darted around the dimly let room for a moment, looking into the much darker areas, trying to figure out what the hell that sound was. She didn't have to look for long.

"Oi!" Ace was the first to spot it.

At the entrance of the door stood a man. His green eyes sparkled in such a familiar way, the look of an almost-smile ghosting across his clean face. A long, black tail flick-flick-flicked from behind him, one elegant hand holding the door as the other held a small remote with a big red button. The kind of big red button that should never be pressed for the sake of the protagonists but that bad guys loved pressing anyway just to screw them over.

As they spotted him too late, they could do nothing to prevent him from pressing that big red button on that small remote. Bars shot up from the ground instantly, separating the man from the Commanders and Ellie. Jozu tried to break the bars with a diamond-covered punch; when his arm turned normal on contact, though, they realized the bars were made of Seastone. Jozu cursed. The cat man smiled. Offering a little wave, eyes narrowing, he shut the door. Judging by the following _click_, he locked it too.

"Fuck!" Marco fumed. "That cat was a man! Must've been a damn Zoan!"

Ellie stared at her arms, a look of perturbation tainting her features. She wasn't as surprised by this as she knew she should be. But... oh. No wonder she felt like she forgot something, back when she was staring at the cat.

But right now she was more concerned by the fact Señor Kitty even snuggled into her boobs. Her _boobs_! She felt highly disturbed right about now.

"Ma-a-a-an, what shit luck." Thatch frowned, rubbing at his chin.

Vista sighed. "We need to get out of here. Let's break down this second door and keep going."

Ellie sucked her lips in, biting them hard. Shit. But the Water Room was beyond there.

Ace stepped up to the second door, poising for attack.

They'd be even more fucked...

Fire engulfed itself around his fist, cackling and popping.

But she can't tell them. She should, but she can't!

Ace's arm retracted, building up substantial force, the fire raging.

Marco was already suspicious of her…

With a shout, Ace brought his arm forward in a punch, the flames of his Fire Fist speeding to the door.

The last thing she wanted was them thinking she worked with these idiots and then go after her own head.

With the force of the blow and the ferocity of the fire, the door came down in seconds. It whirred and sizzled, the device that electrocuted Ace earlier fizzling to death.

No sir. She'd pass on being hunted by the world's strongest crew.

"Let's go."

The five Commanders started walking through the opening that used to be the door. Ellie remained glued to the spot, staring after them. Marco glanced back and saw her still standing there.

"Well?" he called to her. Taking a deep breath, Ellie followed; the dread of knowing what was to come weaving its way around her entire heart, save for a tiny little spot that hoped beyond hope they'd be okay.

* * *

A/N- Ta-dah! I finally updated again! It took me this whole month to write this chapter. Mostly because of time restrictions. I work and go to school, so be warned.

Hopefully, though, the length made up for it? I was originally going to make this a much longer chapter, but it felt right to end it here.

My apologies to Muchkin, my very first reviewer. I can't update it every second day. Wish I could. :( But I love your enthusiasm! Thanks. :D

Thanks also to my other two reviewers, mythologyfreakgirl and MarcoAce! Reviews do motivate me to keep writing, so I encourage them. Reviews with Critiques would be helpful, and I would love them so long as you aren't rude about it. :)

Until next time! :3 Love to you all!


	3. I Could Have Lied

The humidity in the air weighed heavily in their lungs. Try as they might not to breathe in too deep, it couldn't be helped as they went down, down and even further down. Each step they took felt more tiring than the last; each minute, longer. Ace and Marco did a damn good job of lighting the way with their orange and blue flames. Unfortunately for them, it wasn't worth jack shit if the path ahead kept spiraling downwards. They had no way of seeing past the next step that rounded into the nothingness.

They weren't sure if they were going the right way. Or if there even existed a right way, for that matter. Nor did they know what would happen if the path they chose turned out to be the wrong choice; except, of course, for Ellie. But she was still having an internal debate as to whether or not she should warn them of what they were headed towards.

She should. Hell yes she should. Why the hell even have this discussion with herself?

On the other hand… no. Fuck no, she shouldn't.

_They won't trust you, they won't trust you,_ the voice nagged in her head, sounding much like a mantra. _They'll think you're in cahoots with the Thieves. They'll blame you for _**all**_ of this. Accuse __**you**__ of betraying them. After all, what are you to them, other than some girl their Captain pitied enough help?_

Does it really matter though? If it's for the sake of self-preservation? As long as the results ended with her— _them_— being alive, does it really matter if they stop trusting her along the way? As the voice said, _she's nothing to them, _and likewise, _they're nothing to her_. Instead of caring that they'll stop trusting her, she should care more about saving her ass and being able to go on with her life when all is said and done. If they decide she's an enemy, that's on them.

Ellie sighed, running a hand through her hair. Her eyes skirted the edge of every shadow, occasionally studying the backs of the men ahead of her. For their part, they kept extremely calm. A tad cloak of tension hovered between them, but it was hardly noticeable within their confident strides and determined faces.

Three of the five were devil fruit users.

She swore the sound of water appeared at the thought.

Water and fruit users don't mix. That was the understatement of a lifetime. They may end up dead and it would be all Ellie's fault. After all, there were two kinds of evil in this world;_ those who do evil, and those who see evil yet do nothing to stop it._ The person who does nothing to stop evil from occurring is just as responsible for it, even if indirectly. Could she really live with herself if they got to the Water Room and shit ensued? Live with herself after, essentially, killing three good men over something as silly as not wanting to be mistrusted? Emotions are the weakness of efficiency and this odd desire for their acceptance did nothing but hinder her from doing the sensible thing.

Mind finally made up, Ellie's mouth opened and closed as she fought to think of the right words to say. Though something which everyone should always keep in mind, especially when making a life-or-death decision, is: time matters. And it's a tricky thing that never stops ticking, even while you're in the middle of trying to decide on the right thing to do. Or, rather, _especially_ when you're in the middle of deciding on the right thing to do.

"Hey look! A door!" Ace's eyes lit up. Finally. Something other than a downward spiral. He was starting to think this stair case was an endless one.

"'bout time. I was starting to get dizzy." Marco muttered.

"I don't think we should go through that door." Ellie blurted.

The Commanders looked to her. Marco had something like exasperation in his eyes. It threw Ellie off for a moment but she continued on.

"Guys, really now. The stupid Cat Man locked us in a room with only one possible exit. Why that one exit? Probably because there's something beyond it which they planned for us to fall for. Instead of following what they _designed _for us to follow, shouldn't we just give them the metaphorical finger by making our _own_ exit?"

Marco sighed. Ace and Jozu sported these expressions that cried, "Coward!"; Vista and Thatch showed a little more sympathy. Vista approached Ellie, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Listen, _nena,_" he started. She blinked at the Spanish nick-name. "We're all well aware of that possibility. Don't take us not talking about it as us not taking it seriously."

"Yeah, we know shit may hit the fan as soon as we get to the end here." Thatch nodded.

"Frankly we just don't care." Ace shrugged. "We can handle anything thrown our way."

A frown tugged Ellie's lips down as she stared at the men. She looked Ace up and down before asking, "Even a Water Room?"

He raised a curious eyebrow, as did the other Commanders. Fidgeting, Ellie tapped her foot on the ground before taking a deep breath and just going along with it. No taking it back now.

_Welcome to the world of distrust_, the voice smiled.

"Okay let me be real with you guys." She ran a hand through her hair before looking to Marco; Marco being the one she felt the most distrust come from. "I know more than I let on. You can sort of say it's my business to know what others don't, y'know? I already know the basic layout of this particular hideout. I wish I knew every nook and cranny as that'd be damn useful right about now but whatever. Point is, _I already know_ where this stair case leads to. I know! Just like I know the second stair case we could've chosen leads to the same. Exact. Place. As this one, and that place is the Water Room and the Water Room sucks, especially if you're a fruit-user."

Silence. Blinks. Exchanged looks. Marco was the first to speak.

"What's the Water Room?" He had other questions, but this one took precedence, he felt.

"A room that fills with water." She said, as if that should've been the most obvious thing in the world.

"But wha— how exactly—?"

"That I don't know. Not well, anyway. Through some kind of sprinkler system. Either way, once the door closes behind us, there's no way to open it from the inside."

"And you waited until now to tell us something because—?"

"— because I thought it'd seem too **fishy** if I just said, '_Oh hey, by the way, I know this hideout as if I've worked here for months through means which I refuse to reveal but I'm definitely __**not**__ working with the Thieves __**so trust a total stranger like me**_'! You can't blame me for not trusting you guys to trust me, especially after all that damn eyeballing _you've_—" She pointed an accusatory finger at Marco here. "—been doing of me!"

She sighed after her little rant, pinching the bridge of her nose to regain her composure. "It's hard to trust people you don't know. I'm well aware. I thought the best way to account for that would be to omit some unnecessary information at the time that may needlessly raise your suspicions of me. If I had known the Thieves anticipated our arrival I would have gladly let you guys in on more of what I know."

And now was the time to shut up and figure out where to go from here. Ellie stopped her fidgeting, standing straight and staring at them. They could practically see the challenge in her eyes, daring them to question her intentions; daring them to reject the honesty she so handed them. That queer look re-surfaced in Marco's face. Ace's eyebrow lowered from its spot on his forehead, now gazing at her with something close to understanding. Jozu and Vista were speechless, overloaded with the sudden information.

Thatch was smiling and Ellie couldn't for the life of her figure out why.

"I believe you." He said. It didn't do much to calm her, though she felt much more relieved than she'd like to admit.

"You do?" she asked, becoming aware of just how much she was suddenly blinking.

"Yeah, why not?" Thatch lifted one shoulder in a casual shrug. "I somehow doubt this is all an elaborate plan between you and the Thieves to lure us into a trap. I saw them chasing you the other day, remember, and they stole from you too."

"You don't really look like a bad person, anyway." Vista, getting over his speechlessness, chuckled.

"Looks can be deceiving." Ellie countered.

"They said they believe you. Are you really trying to argue with that?" Ace asked.

"Well, no! I'm just saying." Ellie waved her hands in defense.

"So there's a 'Water Room.'" Marco sighed. His eyes were closed in thought. "And both these spiral staircases lead to it."

When he re-opened his eyes, it was to look at Ellie. "Do you know if anything lies beyond the Water Room?"

"No." she shook her head. "All I could gather about it is that there are no exits. Only entrances."

"This Water Room… why is it here? As a torture chamber or what?"

"I believe so."

"Then they likely have a special exit of sorts, one they drag the bodies into to dispose of them."

Marco glanced around to the other Commanders.

"We keep going. Three of us will go in, three of us will hold the door open to make sure the room doesn't activate. We'll find a way to continue through and get the hell out of this place," here he paused and turned to Ellie. "even if it means giving them the metaphorical finger and making our _own_ exit."

"Sounds like a plan." Thatch grinned. "Who does what?"

"Well the logical thing to do would be have us fruit users hold the door open while you normal ones go in and look around."

"What if it's pitch black in there?" Ace asked. "I should light the way for them."

"I've got a flashlight." Ellie patted one of the numerous pouches hanging on her belt.

"Just one?"

"Of course not."

Thatch was staring at Ellie's belt for the first time since meeting the girl. "You… you have a utility belt. What the hell."

As he laughed, amused by this fact, the girl in question just shrugged.

"Fuck if I'm going to be stuck somewhere with no resources." She muttered. His laughing picked up.

"All you need is a Bat Suit now!"

She ran a hand through her hair, defeated smile on her face.

Jozu stood at the door, studying it with some level of apprehension. It was made of a sturdy steel, coated black with dirt and looking worse for wear. Running a hand along it, he noticed a sudden weakness course through him; his body feeling warm-blooded and _normal_. He frowned.

"This has Seastone in it." He said. Marco shrugged, staring at the door.

"That's fine. As long as we don't let it close on them."

"Let's get this over with."

Vista, Thatch and Ellie stood before the door. All the worry she felt was gone, her conscience free of the weight plaguing it earlier. Whatever happens, at least she tried to make things better. Marco opened the door for them; as expected, they were greeted with the darkness living in this entire underground passageway. Ellie took out three small flashlights from one of her pouches, throwing one at Thatch and Vista.

Jozu, being the biggest of them all, stood with his back holding the door as wide open as possible; that is to say, the door was flushed against the outer wall. Marco and Ace positioned themselves on the door frame, ready to stop the door from closing should Jozu somehow lose his balance and let it go. Marco also doubled as watch. No way would he let his brothers go into a room like this unsupervised and with a strange girl. He studied Ellie for a moment, her earlier explanation still playing in his mind alongside what Pops told him the day before, when he asked to meet with Marco.

_Keep an eye on the girl_, Whitebeard had advised. He kept a good poker face, making it hard for Marco to read into his words. _Tell me everything she does, everything she says. _He didn't give Marco an explanation; simply dismissed him to help gather provisions. Marco didn't know what to make of it at the time so he went with being suspicious. Maybe he wasn't wrong to. It's her business to know what others don't? Just what the hell was that supposed to mean? He frowned.

Thatch, Vista and Ellie walked into the room, flashlights on and looking around. The floor squished and squelched under their feet, that stale smell wafting into their noses with each step. Water dripped from somewhere unknown, the sound noticed by all and their tension amplifying it. Humidity made the room warm, heavier in here than out there. It filled their lungs, pressed against their chests so it was harder to breathe. It didn't help that they were way below in the ground where very little oxygen lived. Ellie figured that was the point of having a room like this underground; with so little oxygen, people could drown much faster. The thought disturbed her.

"I'll check this wall and you check that one." Thatch said to Vista, his face much more serious than before. Vista nodded and wasted no time in approaching one of the walls.

For a time, relative silence reigned as the trio searched as much of the walls as possible, looking for anything that may indicate an entrance lay beneath their fingers. The impossible amount of cracks etched into the walls like intricate spider web designs didn't help; on many occasions Ellie thought she found something only to realize it was nothing at all. The drippings of the water continued on, louder still now that the sound of their voices didn't compete with it.

_Drip… _

Thatch swore under his breath, wiping sweat off his forehead.

_drip…_

Vista took in a warm breath, wishing for cooler air.

_drip…_

Jozu couldn't help but notice the door against his back seemed to be getting hotter the longer he held it open. He didn't know if it was his imagination or if he was just warming the metal surface. At the same time as this, Marco noticed Ellie was suddenly crouched low to the ground, inclining her head very close to it. Her eyes narrowed, brows furrowed, fixed on one spot of the ground where the wall meets the floor. Interestingly enough, she held her ear close to it as if listening.

A low, steady hum greeted her ears. It was faint. If she breathed any louder, she wouldn't be able to hear it anymore. Wiping some sweat from her eyes, she pressed her palm to the ground at the same time Jozu pressed his palm against the door;

Ellie flinched.

Jozu hissed.

And the others stopped to stare stupidly at them.

"The hell was that?" Ace asked, twitchy enough as it is from not knowing the status of the rest of the crew.

Ellie stared at her hand with mild perplexity. "The ground burned me."

If she didn't have sleeves that covered her palms, she was sure there would be blisters forming about now.

"The _door_ burned me." Jozu said. He kept his back to it despite this. It only burnt when his bare skin was against the metal.

Marco poked the door with his finger. After a second, he blinked. Oh yeah. He pulled it away.

That was strangely hot.

"Why'd you touch the ground in the first place?" Ace asked Ellie. She looked up from her hands.

"Well I hear a humming from here." She said. "I wanted to see if I could figure out where it's coming from."

Ace walked over to where she stood, dropping to the ground and listening just as intently as she had a moment before. He held his hands against the floor, the heat being no problem to him for obvious reasons. It vibrated in tune with the faint humming, almost like a little massage to his hand. Ellie watched him as his eyebrow rose.

"There must be a generator." He said. "If it's a motor that would explain why it's hot."

"That wouldn't explain why the door is hot as well." Vista pointed out.

Ellie shrugged. "Could be rigged as part of the torture. Not only do you drown, but you boil first. Wouldn't be the first time someone's thought of it."

"I'm going to ignore that last sentence." Ace said, leveling a straight face at her. She smiled momentarily, dropping it when Marco spoke.

"Oi, Ace, since you're there why not try digging until you reach the generator?" Marco held one hand to his chin in thought.

Ace shot Marco the same look he just gave Ellie.

"If you want a generator to work, you don't just shove it into a hole and cover it with dirt. You set up a room for it, with working electricity and maintenance access and all that shit. I know this may be too much for your little brain to understand but it would be good for us to find it. Just trust me, eh." A smirk made its way across Marco's face as Ace grabbed a fistful of dirt and threw it at him.

"If you're going to find this generator, make it quick." Jozu huffed. "This door is starting to heat up my armor. Won't be much longer 'til it starts to burn me."

"On it." Ace nodded, placing his palms on the ground again and moving them around carefully. If he moved in a certain direction, the already faint vibration disappeared. If he moved another way, it became stronger. After a few minutes of feeling up the ground, he picked the spot where he felt it vibrate the strongest and began digging with his bare hands. Ellie stepped back so as not to get hit by the dirt, taking the time to think this over. Okay. Generator. It'll be inside a room, most likely, and where there's a room there's a way out. The Thieves are clever, but probably not clever enough to have adequate foresight. The chances of people in this room ever making it to the Generator Room were slim to non-existent, especially considering the effect panicking had on a person's ability to think.

She could feel a bit of hope blossom in her. They stood a chance of making it out. Closing her eyes, she envisioned the layout of the hide-out. So maybe she exaggerated a little bit when she said she knew everything there is to know about this place, but who doesn't? Especially while in the throes of a heated moment.

Think, Ellie, think.

There's the main entrance of the hideout. Nice, small room. Then the staircase. Mostly a straight shot, but curved a little as it reached its end. To the right, the bedding area. To the left, a hidden door. But that door didn't lead to anything special, as far as she could remember. It was more of an emergency supply room so she doubted treasure would be hidden there. So bedding area and then… spiral stair cases. That couldn't be it though. Lines formed into her brow as she thought this over.

There's a generator under this room, meaning there must be a lower level beneath them. If there is a third doorway, it must lead to that lower level. Or to a whole new area of the hideout she didn't know about. Perhaps one that leads to the alternate exit she and Jozu found. Fuck. Why did this have to happen before she had the chance to acquire more knowledge? One week more of research on this island and she would have had all this information under her belt already but no. Just her luck.

Ellie reopened her eyes. By now, Ace had dug fairly deep into the ground. At the door, Jozu was beginning to sweat heavily from the prolonged contact of a constantly heating door. Hell, the air in the very room was warming at an alarming rate. If Ace didn't dig fast enough, Ellie was sure they would become baked goods.

Fortunately for them all, Ace did manage to get to the bottom of the dirt. He realized this when his fingers crashed against something hard. He passed his hands over the new-found floor, clearing dirt from a decent-sized space on it. Unfortunately for them, it was a floor made of Seastone. He sighed irritably as he felt the all-too-familiar draining of his energy as he touched the floor.

"There's no doubt this is where it's at." He called to Marco's direction. "I can hear and feel it at this spot. Problem is, the damn floor's made of Seastone. Not even Jozu can break through something like that."

"Team attack?" Thatch said. "Jozu by himself can't break it bu-u-u-t Jozu times Ace times Vista times Marco times Me probably can."

Marco pursed his lips, hand-on-chin.

"That would be a fine idea if we didn't risk exploding the generator with it, eh." Marco shook his head.

"We've survived canon fire and a bunch of other shit. How bad could one little explosion be?" Ace shrugged.

"Yea-a-a-h… I'm not freakishly tough or a mutant like you guys are. An explosion would be pretty bad for me." Ellie said slowly. "I'd appreciate it if we could _avoid_ that."

"More importantly, we would risk caving ourselves in. The floor has to have a weak spot. They all do." Marco said. Ellie sighed.

"Okay so guys this is a water room… water falls from the ceiling through some kind of plumbing system that's been installed within the walls. Marco has established that there's probably some kind of third entrance that's used as an exit for the bodies but maybe there's also a drainage system at play here? I mean surely they don't just open the doors and let the water flood the halls just to get to the bodies, especially considering we're underground and the water would have nowhere to go."

"Your point?" Jozu asked.

"Point being if there's a weak spot in the floor, it would have to be at one of the drainage holes. In fact, for a room this large, I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to find one of these drainage holes. If we get to one, you guys could do your team work shit and get us through the wall and into the room below and hey! Problem solved."

Marco nodded as she spoke, eyeing her again. The shadows of suspicion lined his gaze but he shook it off.

"Sounds like a plan enough." He said. Ace took that as the okay to shove the dirt around, with Ellie carefully joining him. She had to wear protective gloves that she carried in one of her belt pouches, but never mind that.

One of the drainage holes was much quicker to find than digging through the dirt to reach the floor. What's more, it was fairly close to where they figured the generator to be, meaning it would surely lead to the room under them. A stroke of luck after a series of unfortunate ones. Ace stood straight and wiped way-ward dirt off of himself as Vista and Thatch made their way over. Jozu looked at Marco, frowning.

"It would be best if I joined in too. But this door needs to stay open."

"I'll hold it open for now. Better you than me." Marco said. Ellie walked over to them, holding up her now-gloved hands.

"I can do it." She said. "I'm really not strong enough a person to break through things but I'm pretty sure I'm strong enough to hold a door open. I hope."

Marco sighed but nodded nonetheless. Ellie eased herself in front of the door, arms behind her back with the palms against the stone, allowing Jozu to be able to let go of it. Her jaw automatically clenched as the heat of the door got through her heat-resistant gloves, but she sucked it in. She wouldn't get blisters, at the very least.

The Commanders all circled themselves around the drainage hole, truly a fearsome sight to behold.

"Nothing that can cause an explosion, alright?" Marco instructed, to which they nodded. "On the count of three."

"One."

They threw their arms back, Vista and Thatch opting to use their swords.

"Two."

Ellie blinked, hearing some echoes emanating from the stair case they came from.

"Three!"

A thunderous clash of sound shook the area as the five Commanders launched their attacks in perfect sync. The poor floor just didn't stand a chance, even if the Seastone it was made from was stronger than diamond. The sound of rocks crumbling followed the clash and Ellie noted with undisguised amazement that the cracks extended to the very ends of the room. The vibration of the room lasted a good minute after the attack was finished and for a moment, the risk of the room caving in became a very real possibility.

But no such thing happened, much to their relief; instead, just as they hoped, they were able to make a hole in the floor. Add to that the fact a Generator Room did indeed exist. Grins spread across their faces and even Ellie managed to smile, despite the increasing heat hurting her hands. The smile dropped, however, when she heard a voice that didn't belong to them:

"What the hell was that?" it shouted, disgruntled. Hurried footsteps followed it, belonging to more than one person.

"Guys, we've got company!" Ellie snapped her attention to the Commanders.

"Shut the door and let's get going." Marco ordered, having taken a quick survey of the room below them.

"Alright but the water is gonna start pouring as soon as it closes." Ellie warned. The approaching footsteps were getting louder by the second; no longer being able to withstand the heat anyway, she let go of the door and stepped into the room. It slammed with a resounding _click_, the whirring of gears starting up and the heavy rush of water rumbling within the ceiling following not long after.

The Commanders started jumping into the hole they made, Thatch waiting for Ellie before going in himself. As Ellie reached the hole, she could hear the same disgruntled voice form earlier at the door.

"Inform the boss! They've gone and done something!"

She doesn't know if they said anything beyond that; she jumped down into the room below, landing quite easily on her two feet. Thatch landed next to her, and all of them could feel water beginning to drip onto their heads. Marco was already looking around for a door in the rather large and surprisingly clean room; after spending a long time in a darkened room, the brightness of the white walls in this one blinded them a little. It disturbed Ellie that the hole was almost right above the generator. If they didn't leave soon and the water started pouring into it…

She took a glance around, her eyes adjusting to the brightness. Their section of the room had a see-through wall separating it from the rest, parallel tubes of wires lining the wall behind the generator. The wires, which were connected to it, dug into the ceiling, disappearing from sight. Beyond the see-through wall, which had a door-shaped opening, was the bulk of the room. One section had cabinets, possibly for typical maintenance tools; the middle of the room had a table with papers strewn about it; but what really caught their attention was the furthest wall from them.

The entire thing had security monitors set up on it. On their level was a control panel, with buttons and joysticks to toggle the view on each camera. From there on, up until the ceiling, were the monitors; some of them offered a view of the inside of the hideout, with some showing the perimeters of it. Others were set up scattered about the city and the docks, offering different views of the different districts.

The disturbing thing about it was all the fighting they could see happening in the city.

Marines were attacking the pirates, citizens of Alegria running for cover. Their fellow Commanders did most of the fighting, ushering their brothers towards the Moby Dick. They could see the Moby Dick in one of the cameras and watched as Whitebeard deflected cannonballs from it, trying to keep it floating so they could sail away in it.

The sound of cackling electricity pulled them out of their stupor.

"Shit! We need to get out of here!" Ace was the first to speak, slightly panicked.

"So this _was _a trap." Marco cursed. This explained a lot. They've been under watch by the Thieves ever since they set foot upon the island. No amount of sneaking could have gotten them around this extensive surveillance system.

"C'mon, let's go!" Thatch reached the only door in the room first, pulling it open. The Cat Man from earlier stood behind it, the ghost of a smile gracing his face.

"I shouldn't have underestimated all of you." He purred, tail flicking as he strolled passed Thatch and into the room. Everyone froze in their place, staring at him with undisguised disgust.

"But it doesn't really matter, I imagine." He continued on unperturbed by their looks, circling around them as he spoke. He was met with nothing but glares as the Commanders felt their anger flare.

"You saw us through the video den-den-mushi, didn't you?" Marco asked, keeping a level head despite his anger.

"Why of course. We watch everyone who enters this island 24/7. Especially high caliber pirates such as yourselves. My men may be a little on the… dimwitted… side, but that doesn't mean I am too. I know how to compensate for their slip-ups."

"Don't you think you're a bit dimwitted yourself? My good man, you must have realized how incredibly stupid it was to mess with _the_ Whitebeard pirates." Thatch offered him a sardonic smile. The Cat Man simply shrugged.

"Your arrogance will be your down fall." He sighed, stopping his pace. "You want your precious treasure? Go through this door, up the stairs and open the door to the left. That's where we keep all of our money, and you'll find another set of stairs in there which will lead you to the hotel exit. Feel free to take as much as you want; you shan't get very far with it, I don't think. "

"Challenge accepted." Marco said, eyes glinting.

One by one the Commanders began leaving, running up the stairs. Marco noticed Ellie had been crouched at the generator this whole time, doing who-knows-what, before realizing they were leaving. His eyebrow quirked up as he hadn't seen her go over to it, but he said nothing as she trotted her way to the door. The Cat Man studied her curiously as she made her way up the stairs and out of sight, tilting his head.

"I'm surprised you have a sneak with you." He commented to Marco. Marco furrowed his brow, his earlier suspicion returning once again. Casting the Cat Man one last, hard, look, he turned and slammed the door behind him. Of course, he couldn't help but wonder just what the hell that damn cat meant by "a sneak".

Was he right to be suspicious of the girl? Physically, she seemed harmless enough. But he did notice little things about her that didn't quite strike him as normal. Like the lock picking. Or her weird utility belt with the various pouches on it that she kept pulling supplies out of. And then that rant of hers about _'knowing what others don't'_ and just…

Ah fuck it all. Right now, the safety of his Pops and brothers was more important than trying to figure out this strange girl. He would keep his eye on her. Anything funny and he would handle it personally.

Just as the Cat Man said, the stair case lead to a few doors. The one on the left was locked with a padlock, but Ellie was able to get through it fairly quick. Marco frowned as he studied the way she picked through it. Her hands held the torque wrench and lock pick with such familiarity that it suddenly made sense to him that she's done this a million times before.

Once open, they saw the room was full of tall shelves. Upon the shelves were treasure chests aligned neatly; kind of dirty looking but otherwise sturdy. To the right, they could see three wooden steps leading to a wall. Some light seeped its way from under it, coating the room with a dim glow; there was no mistaking the sounds of clashing swords, the explosions of gun fire, and the cracking of blows dealt to bones.

Upon hearing the sounds of fighting, Jozu wasted no time in breaking down the wall. The wall flew off its frame, crashing into a few unlucky Marines that had been standing behind it. The other Commanders were quick to act, jumping into the fight; Ace blasting away a large number of Marines with his fire, Marco knocking them down with a long-reaching swipe of his blue wings, Vista and Thatch cutting through them with expert ease. Ellie stayed behind in the room, thankful for the sudden flood of light that destroying the wall caused.

Her bag. It had to be somewhere. She hurried around the room, looking up and down the rows of shelves. She would kill herself if it turns out it wasn't here.

"Ah-ha! Gotcha!" she cheered when she found her black book bag. When she opened it, she was satisfied to see it had all of her oh-so-important documents still inside. She would check them all properly later to make sure there were no pages missing but for now, she needs to get the hell out of here before—

"OI!"

Too late. She had just enough time to dodge the swing of a sword; the blade crashed into the shelf she was standing in front of, sinking deep into the wood. A cookie-cutter Marine type was the owner of the sword; he pulled it out of the wood with a quick jerk of his arm and aimed it at Ellie again.

"I guess the Whitebeards are recruiting more girls, ey lassie?" he leered.

"I'm not part of their crew." Ellie said, backing away from the tip of the blade. It was uncomfortably close to her neck.

"Yeah, like I'll believe that." He snorted, drawing his sword back and taking another swing. Ellie ducked low to the ground, feeling the swish lift some of the hairs on her head.

"Do I _look_ like a pirate to you?" Ellie rolled her eyes, putting more space in between them while the Marine recovered from his attack.

"Don't matter what you look like! We've seen you helping them from the very start!" he fumed, annoyed by how many times he's missed.

"What do you mean, you've seen me helping them?" she shook her head, not understanding.

"Through the cameras, lass!" he charged at her, swinging his blade down. Ellie dove to her left, rolling before getting back on her feet.

"But those cameras are ones the Thieves put up. How could you have access to them?" To her despair, her back was met with a wall of shelves. The Marine smiled, placing the tip of his sword against her throat; enough so she could feel the sharpness of it but not enough to cut her. Yet.

"They're not the only ones who use them. The Surveillance den-den mushi are wired to the two Marine Bases too."

Ellie tilted her head back as the Marine slowly moved the sword, as if reminding her of her disadvantage. She kept calm, one eyebrow rising.

"So in other words, we were fucked from the very beginning. The Thieves didn't even have to tell you the Whitebeards were here."

"Exactly." The Marine smirked. "We dispatched as soon as we saw the Moby Dick."

"Lovely, but seriously. I'm not part of their crew. I only helped so I could get my bag back." She jiggled the shoulder that had the bag on it.

"We looked through that bag." The Marine said, eyes glancing at it. "And we couldn't help but notice certain documents in there. Certain _Marine-Confiscated, Top-Secret_ documents that shouldn't be in the hands of a child like you."

Ellie's jaw tightened, eyes staying on the Marine's face.

"I'm not going to kill you right now. I'm going to bring you to our base and you're going to tell us exactly who you are, what you're doing, who you work for and then _maybe_ we'll send you to Impel Down if we're feeling generous enough."

"How nice of you." Ellie said. She raised her arms slowly, not wanting to alarm him with any sudden movements.

"Smart girl, choosing the easy way." The Marine said, grinning at her sign of submission.

Ellie smiled. "Easy for me, yes. Not so much for you though."

"What?"

Ellie grabbed one of the treasure chests resting on the shelf above her. Before he knew what was happening, she chucked it as hard as she could. Being uncertain of its weight, she didn't count on actually hitting him; she just wanted enough of a distraction to get away. The Marine didn't know this so he flinched out of the way, not wanting to get bonked on the head by a heavy treasure chest. With bag in tow, Ellie made a run for it.

When she started running, she noticed there were a lot less fights going on than what they saw through the cameras. She brushed it off as the pirates heading back to their ship now that all of the Commanders were free. Whatever. Her time with the Whitebeards has ended. She needs to focus on doing some clean-up. Her mind raced as fast as her legs moved, wondering just how much the Marines were able to gather from her documents. They were encoded. How could they tell the nature of them without being able to read them? Unless it's the fact that they're encoded that gave it away. She frowned, dodging some wayward bullets as she made her way to the docks.

No matter how little or how much, even a bit was too much. She would ensure that the two Marine bases were wiped out.

Relief flooded her as she reached the docks. By then her heart was pounding fiercely against her ribs, sweat trickling down her face as her lungs screamed for more air. Despite being night time, everything was well lit due to the orange glow of constant canon fire; the heavy stench of gun powder stuck to the air, clouds of smoke hovering over the battle field. The relief left Ellie as she noticed all the fighting was centralized here. To make matters worse, she could see at least 10 marine warships lining the horizon. Some were smoking from the damage done by the Moby Dick's cannonballs, but most were unharmed.

"Shit." She cursed under her breath. Even if she did manage to get on her little boat, there's no way she'd be able to get past 10 warships on it. She supposed she could go wait this out somewhere but with all these cameras she highly doubted she could lay low for a while. She looked to the Moby Dick, seeing that Whitebeard was now joined by most of his sons. For a moment, she felt awe-struck as she watched his mighty figure bounce back cannonballs with his bisento, Captain's coat fluttering like a cape with each swing. His silhouette was sharp against the darkness of the night sky, his white mustache commanding attention even in the darkness.

So maybe she was more star-struck than awe-struck. In all her short years travelling the New World, she never thought she'd meet an Emperor, much less the most well-known of them all.

She really should stop getting distracted in the middle of important moments. The familiar voice of a certain Marine snapped her out of her reverie.

"THAT'S THE LASS!" The Marine from earlier shouted to a group of his comrades, red-faced. "SHE'S WITH THE WHITEBEARDS! MAKE SURE SHE DOESN'T GET AWAY!"

Ellie rolled her eyes, slapping her hand against her thigh. "Oh for the love of— I'm NOT WITH THE WHITEBEARDS! Get that through your thick ass head!"

"Shut it!" The Marine yelled. He whipped out his sword and soon, the group of them charged at her. Ellie straightened, taking a quick look around her before bolting at a high-speed run. She had no idea where she was running to, but at the moment anywhere away from them seemed ideal.

Whitebeard, with his all-observing eyes, didn't fail to notice her predicament. He glanced down to Marco, who was keeping track of all the men coming on board to make sure no one was left behind.

"Tell me, Marco." Whitebeard started. "What do you make of that little girl?"

"She's a fishy one." Marco frowned. "But she helped get us out of there so I guess I can't complain, eh."

There was a glint in Whitebeard's eyes, as if he knew something that Marco didn't. Marco's frown deepened as he watched his father, recognizing the look on his face.

"Pops, that girl is **_fishy_**. We know **_nothing_** about her." He warned.

"She doesn't look fishy. Just a bit misguided."

"I doubt misguided is the right word. She seemed to know exactly what she was doing."

"It's not nice to take things at face-value, Marco. I'm sure there's a reason for her "fishy" nature."

"Yeah, she's probably a Marine spy or something."

"Marines don't go after their own men. Erm, women. Besides, half the men on my ship look down-right suspicious yet they're some of the most honest people I've ever met."

"...You've made up your mind, haven't you?"

"Go get that brat onto this ship. It's only right to help her after she helped us. I'll have a little talk with her and if I don't like what I see, we dump her at the next island. Deal?"

Marco sighed, knowing there was no way to convince his father otherwise.

"Deal."

By the time Marco got to Ellie, her legs were aching from all the running around. Seeing him fly down in half-phoenix form and knock out many of the Marines made her unbelievably happy. If she weren't so out of breath she would thank the man a million times and maybe kiss him. Well, no, but she felt like it.

"Come on!" he grabbed her arm, tugging. She blinked, confused.

"Wha- what do you mean?"

"You're coming with us, that's what."

Ellie tilted her head to the side, not budging. "I can't go with you guys."

"Well you have to." Marco said, leveling a straight face at her.

"I mean thanks for the help with the Marines but _I can't go with you guys_ on your ship. _I'm not a pirate_." She emphasized her words more firmly.

"Seriously?! Now's not the time to be stubborn. Either come with us or we're letting the Marines kill you." His grip on her arm tightened, a vein twitching in his forehead.

"But why are you—?"

She never got to finish her question. Marco, seeing that all of his brothers now made it safely to the ship, got tired of waiting and simply picked her up. He flew them to the deck and dropped her onto it carelessly, eliciting a grunt of protest from the dazed girl. She jumped to her feet and looked around; all 16 Commanders were on board. She could only assume all of their subordinates made it back as well. Whitebeard's attention was now on the 10 warships blocking their path. A wicked grin was across his face as he stood on the figurehead of the Moby Dick.

"Trust me, it's better if you're with us." Thatch, who seemed happy by her company, approached her. He dropped an arm across her shoulders and pointed to Whitebeard.

"Watch what he's about to do! It'll be epic!"

As the Moby Dick lifted its anchor and set sail, the crew gathered behind their Captain much like an audience. Ellie felt herself subconsciously leaning closer to Thatch, nervousness beating its way through her body as she wondered just what would happen next. The rocking of the ship as cannonballs landed too close for comfort made it worse. She glanced around and saw many grins, seeing some men get closer for a better view.

Then it happened.

Whitebeard lifted one fisted arm slowly, holding it above himself as he waited for exactly the right time. When they were near enough, he slammed his arm down; instead of swinging all the way behind him as it should have, it collided with an invisible wall and created white cracks in the air. Ellie shook her head, not sure she was seeing this right. He lifted his other arm and repeated the motion; raising it above his head before bringing it down against… the air, she supposed. It had the same effect. Cracks covered the area his fist landed at.

The result wasn't obvious to her at first, as she was too focused trying to understand just how in the bloody hell one could _break air._ But then she noticed two huge waves forming, heading in the direction of the warships at an alarm speed; the closer they got, the bigger they became. By the time they reached the warships, they were full-blown tsunamis. It didn't take long for the warships to topple pathetically over, as if nothing more than rubber duckies floating along a storm-ridden sea.

The men around her began cheering, someone calling to bring out the rum. Thatch, who still had his arm around her, was laughing. Off to the distance, Ace and the other Commanders were sorting through some _very familiar_ treasure chests. Whitebeard climbed down from the figurehead and stood in the middle of the deck, laughing himself. At some point during all of this, Ellie's brain died and she no longer understood anything.

* * *

The next day couldn't have arrived sooner. Ellie could barely remember the events after Whitebeard's disposal of the Marine fleet. There was laughing and cheering and drinking and then somehow she ended up in an unoccupied cupboard of a room. Not that she drank; but a headache told her she was just too damn tired to stay awake. She sat on her little cot of a bed, staring blankly at the wooden floor in front of her.

Well. This was awkward.

Fortunately, before she could dwell on just how awkward this was and oh-my-god-is-she-really-staying-on-the-Moby-Dick, a knock on the door surprised her. She glanced up at it before calling for the person to come in.

"Good morning Sunshine!" Thatch smiled, poking his head into her room. If you could call it a room. She blinked at him.

"What's the matter? Still tired?" he laughed. "Come on, Pops wants to talk to you."

"Is he going to tell me why I'm here?" she asked.

"Dunno. Probably." Thatch shrugged. "Try not to look so down about it! We're not bad people, y'know."

"I'm not down, just confused." Ellie ran a hand over her forehead before standing up.

"I'm sure Pops has his reasons." Thatch smiled. "Either way, you're going to be staying with us at least until the next island. Make the most of it."

They walked down the hallway together, Thatch leading her to Whitebeard's sleeping quarters.

"And how far away is the next island, exactly?"

"Couple of days, I think."

"Beautiful." There was this look of concern in Ellie's eyes that Thatch couldn't explain. He had a feeling it had nothing to do with being on the Moby Dick though.

"While you're here, if there's anything you ever need help with you can ask me. I'll be your host." He said, smile never faltering.

"You're too kind." Ellie said, finally returning his smile. It didn't take long for them to reach Whitebeard. Thatch knocked before opening the door.

Whitebeard was laying back on his bed, hooked up to some medical machines. Ellie was taken aback by it but had the tact not to mention it. When he spotted who it was, he straightened himself up.

"Thank you, Thatch." Whitebeard said, placing a cup of water he was drinking down. "You can leave us now. I want to have a private talk with Ellie."

Thatch nodded. With a wave to Ellie, he made his way out. Once the door closed behind him, Ellie looked up at the giant man. There was silence as they studied one another.

Finally, Whitebeard spoke. "Tell me about yourself."

* * *

AAAAAND DONE. Damn, it took me five months to write this. I'm terribly sorry for the delay in updating, but I DID warn you guys that I have school and work. :/ Hopefully you guys take this as a sign of me being dedicated though? Even after five months, I never stopped thinking about this story. :D

So they're finally off Alegria and Ellie is finally stuck with the Whitebeard crew! Lol I can progress with the "love" genre a bit more and start focusing on building her relationship with the crew members, Ace in particular. ;] I kind of rushed at the end because I was tired and it was getting late and I REALLY wanted to have this out by tonight!

A million, billion thanks to my reviewers: angelrider13, mythologyfreakgirl, kandy2431 and Tamamo no mae! I love reviews, and reading yours reminded me why I need to keep writing this story no matter how long it takes. :')

Loved it? Hated it? Want to be helpful and leave me some crit? Tell me what you think in the reviews!


	4. We Believe

Once again Ellie found herself standing in the middle of the deck, plopped in front of Whitebeard and surrounded by the 16 division commanders. The fish-out-of-water feeling surged through her, but all the past nervousness was gone and replaced by resignation. The young girl felt no need to straighten out of her slouch this time.

"Ellie and I have come to an agreement." Whitebeard started.

Ellie held back a sigh, instead taking a deep breath.

"She'll be staying with us indefinitely as of today."

A murmur traveled along the pirates, at some points displeased, at others surprised. Marco was the first to speak up.

"This is pretty sudden." He said, though he wasn't wholly stunned by the decision. He remembered the look on Whitebeard's face last night when he ordered him to bring the girl on board. After decades of serving the man, he recognized what that look meant.

"The best decisions are ones made at the moment." Whitebeard shrugged, holding Marco's gaze.

"You didn't even talk with us about it first."

"Ah, but that's why you're gathered here now." The edge of Whitebeard's lips twitched up into a curve, flashing some teeth. "The girl and I had a long talk last night and we _**both**_ agreed it's best if she stays with us."

Upon Whitebeard's emphasis of the word "both", Ellie shot him a look. But she remained silent, opting to cross her arms over her chest. The look didn't fail Marco's notice. He frowned.

"So the lass is part of our crew, then? Is that it?" One of the Commanders, with wild golden dreadlocks held back by a head band, asked.

"Not quite. She's more of an ally." Whitebeard said.

When he was met with confused looks, he continued.

"She has commitments elsewhere so she can't be one of us. Of course, she knows she's welcomed here should she ever wish it."

"Commitments elsewhere?" Marco sighed. "Then why even have her here in the first place?"

"We're helping each other out. Her other commitments will be a big help to me, and she traveling with us will be a big help to her. It's a win-win situation."

"Oh? And what are these other commitments?" Marco directed the question to Ellie, who was infuriatingly silent. She stared at him for a moment, unblinking and expressionless.

"Nothing you would understand." She said. "Whitebeard is the _**only**_ one I have to explain myself to, anyway."

Marco felt the agitation tick through his veins and opened his mouth to say something, but Thatch beat him to it.

"I think it's a great idea!" he chirped, smiling at Ellie. "We haven't had a new recruit in so long!"

"Much less a girl." Haruta of the 12th division added. She was grinning at the idea, eyeing the girl in question. Sure, there were women on board other than Haruta, but they were the overtly feminine nurses that Whitebeard kept by his side. Seeing Ellie, and her crop of dark hair, and her completely covered skin, Haruta had a feeling she was more tomboy than feminine. A nice change.

"Fine by me." Jozu started, gruff voice as distinct as his height. "But where will she be assigned?"

"I was thinking second division." Whitebeard looked to Ace, who was sitting on a barrel and looking bored by the whole thing.

"Eh?" Ace raised an eyebrow. "Why my division?"

"'Cause maybe extra help will finally get your lazy ass organized. She can keep track of your division's inventory so stocking up on provisions won't be difficult anymore."

Ace opened his mouth to protest but stopped when struck by how brilliant that was for him. He grinned and leaned back, arms behind his head.

"Sounds good." He said. Thatch pouted, shaking his head.

"Any more questions?" Whitebeard asked. When met with none, he nodded. "Good. Off you go. Let your division members know. Ellie, go on ahead with Ace so he can get you started."

He officially dismissed them with a wave of his hand, pouring himself a drink and by all means readying himself for a day of lazing about on the deck.

Ellie took another breath and slowly stood up. Some of the Commanders bustled off to do whatever, but some stayed on deck. She approached her new Commander, who himself also stood. Ace took a moment to properly observe the girl. Despite having worked with her the other night, he hadn't actually paid attention to her.

Though truth be told, there was nothing remarkable about her. Her light brown, almost golden, eyes were the most notable features on her. From there on, the crop of dark hair and tanned skin screamed Plain Jane! Her body was covered with a black compression shirt, sleeves so long that even the palms of her hands showed no skin. Her pants were some kind of light grey, stretchy material and fairly form fitting. And, of course, there was her utility belt. It reminded him a lot of those comic book characters with the tactical army suits.

"Welcome aboard." He said, offering her a grin. He threw an arm over her shoulders and pulled her along as he started walking.

"Since you're the newbie and all, you've gotta do all the dirty work. You're gonna keep track of the inventory, swab the deck, clean my room, do the laundry— which includes all of our dirty undies— clip our toenails, wash our dishes, kill our enemies, steal, pillage, seduce, and claim territories in the name of the Almighty Fire Fist. Got it?"

Ellie blinked, staring at the freckled-face man.

"So… I keep track of your inventory. Got it."

"Great listener. I like that." Ace chuckled. He pushed open a door which lead to a hallway with even more doors. It all looked like one giant maze and Ellie knew she would be getting herself lost these next few days. Ace walked to the middle of the hallway and extended his arms to address the room at large.

"This is the storage hallway. See the doors? They're numbered. The one you're in charge of is door number two. Get it? Second division, number two?"

"Gee, I don't know, it seems a little too complicated." Ellie sucked her teeth, feigning a look of confusion.

"Nah, you'll get it soon enough. Just think on it for a while. For now, you get your own copy of the key. Hell, I might as well give you mine. I'm not gonna be in there much."

Ace pulled out the key and opened the door. When they walked in, Ellie's first thought was that a hurricane struck the room.

Her second thought was, "Fuck."

Her third thought was to run away, but a sense of obligation forced her to stay.

"It's as fun as it looks." Ace smirked, seeing the expression on her face.

"Please tell me you've got some kind of organized-chaos thing going on here." She said.

"Ye-e-e-ah… kind of. All like items are thrown together. That good enough?"

Her sigh was answer enough for him.

* * *

It didn't take long for all the occupants of the Moby Dick to know about their new "recruit". And, as with the addition of any new personnel, her quirky eccentricities were shortly noticed, discussed and dissected. Rumors ran rampant for the next few days; started over drinks and shared during meals. It started simply enough; people knew nothing about Ellie, so they talked about the things they noticed.

Like her mindless singing. As she got to work on fixing the second division's storage room into a semblance of organization, she would sing. Always. Sometimes low, to herself, other times loud enough to hear from outside the door. She wasn't a horrible singer, per se, but her voice sure as hell wasn't a thing of beauty. While some of the crew members snorted at the thought, others were a bit more sympathetic. After all, she was charged with the task of cleaning up Ace's mess. If singing helped her get through that hell then by all means, keep at it.

Others couldn't help but notice a black wire that stuck out of her hair and into her shirt. Her hair obstructed the view so it looked as though it came from her very head, leading some of the more impressionable members to believe she was a robot. The wiser ones knew better. It just meant she was in need of a hearing aid. This tidbit of information caught Marco's special interest, of course. For the next day or two, he stared at Ellie, and thus, the wire; long enough to figure out that it went from her _ear _(the hearing aid rumor had some merit, it seemed; the wire was attached to some little device that hooked around the ear)_,_ under her shirt, and to one of her pouches. Whatever was in the pouch bulged, round in shape.

While observing the girl, there were a couple of times when he saw Ellie place her hand to her ear, leaning into the wire. As if… listening? Marco narrowed his eyes whenever he saw this. As if staring hard enough would reveal everything he needed to know. But the moments were fleeting; one second she would be listening, the next back to normal. He wouldn't be surprised if he was the only one who even noticed.

Probably the most obvious thing noticed about Ellie by everyone, even the unobservant, was her habit of staying locked in her room. For _**hours**_. What at first seemed like a normal inclination— what with her being the new kid and awkward and all— became ridiculously prolonged. And flat-out odd. Odd in the _she-frequently-skipped-lunch-and-dinner_ kind of way. Sometimes she would come to breakfast… if Thatch dragged her to it.

On the occasions she did show up for some kind of meal, her fingers would be covered in stray ink marks, the tips of her index fingers pinkish. Lines were etched into her face, bringing a look of thoughtful weariness that aged the young girl incredibly. It was obvious to some that she hadn't slept that night; light grey lining the bottom of her eyes. This lead many to wonder what in the blue hell could a 20-year-old possibly be doing at the dead of night? One on a pirate ship, no less! Whose sole job was to keep track of the second division's inventory! Surely it wasn't a task she would lose sleep over? Certainly, she would have to be a special type of person to do so.

The rumors began to get wild. Ace and Thatch heard some of them during lunch.

"Why are we even talking about this? The girl's a robot. Done." Little Thomas of the Fourth Division said. He was huddled with two others. Thatch raised an amused eyebrow, listening.

"Nah you idiot, she would have to be a cyborg! Robots are square and made of metal!" His older brother, Johnson, scoffed.

"Yer both idiots. She's not no robot or cyborg! She's gotta be an alien." The third one, an older man known for his cock-eye, said.

"Alien? Are you fucking serious, old man?" Johnson pointed a fork at Cock-Eye. "Aliens are only in fairy tales."

"But it makes sense, don't it?" Cock-Eye said. "Think about it; that wire in her ear is to communicate with outside space!" At this moment, he pointed above them. " She don't eat a lot cuz she don't need to! She's probably an advance form of alien race that can survive on very little food which is good fer when on a new planet. I bet she stays up all night talking to her people at the home planet, plotting the best way to **murder us all.**"

"Remember when he thought _**I**_ was an alien?" Ace asked Thatch, smirking. Thatch nodded with a snort.

"Yeah man. You dressing up as one didn't help." They shared a laugh, resuming their eating as the group of three continued their debate of which seemed the more likely guess.

"It's a shame, though." Thatch started.

Ace looked to him without pausing his eating.

"She's a pretty sweet girl once you get to know her. I wish people would stop talking about her and talk _**to**_ her."

"I wouldn't worry none too much." Ace shrugged. "They'll start talking to her once they stop fearing her being an alien and convince themselves she's not a robot."

"I hope so."

Whitebeard, of course, heard all of the rumors and all of the speculations. He would brush it off as nothing, much to everyone's dismay. Especially Marco's. Now, don't get the blue birdie wrong. Marco wanted to believe in his Captain. Desperately. He wanted to believe in his Father, his dad, his old man, his pops— to trust him 100% as he always did— but. The whole situation with Chameleone; their fallen friend and brother. It infested his mind. Filled him with unrelenting doubt. He didn't want to go through that kind of betrayal again. And, feeling personally responsible for all the failings they suffered, he couldn't let go of the idea that had he listened to his nagging suspicion back then, had he questioned the man a little more, he could have found Chameleon out for the rat he was _before_ any damage was done.

Ever since, he vowed to be a little more careful about the people allowed on board, whether Whitebeard approved of it or not. Especially when they did something that struck him as _just not right._

Like that one evening when, walking to the cafeteria, Marco passed by Ellie's room. He's passed by it many times, as it happens to be along the way, but that day he stopped. He could hear her voice, but it wasn't her usual awful singing. It took him a moment to figure out she was having a conversation.

With herself?

"No, you idiot." He could hear her say. His heart jumped. He relaxed when he realized that wasn't directed to him. She continued, "Of course I didn't know."

There was a pause. Marco looked up and down the hallway. Seeing no one, he crept to the side of her door and slowed his breathing.

"I did what I could. But shit happens, y'know?"

Nobody answered her. Marco furrowed his brows.

"So how did it go?"

Again, nothing.

"And you made sure no one got away?"

Was she on a den-den mushi and he just couldn't hear it?

"Good job! See baby, this is why I need you in my life."

She chuckled at this point and Marco heard the sounds of shuffling.

"You know you love it. Anyway, I just finished re-encoding all the documents. I'm going to send them off once we get to the next island." A sigh. "Did Grimes already fill you in on my… current situation?"

Grimes…? Marco frowned.

"Ye-e-e-ah. Fun times." She said. "I can't roam as freely anymore so I'mma tell you what I told him; you two will be handling the field unless I say otherwise. Any problems, call me no matter the time. For now, I need you guys to continue preparations."

Marco blinked. _**Call me**__ no matter the time…_

The wire.

"Alright, take care."

The wire is connected to a den-den mushi. Marco blinked again as the realization churned its way through his mind. That's why it's in her ear. That's why the pouch it leads to has a round bulge.

A communication device.

He felt his heart race at the sudden clarity. This girl had a means of secretly communicating with people on the outside. She had the trust of Whitebeard and one of the Commanders. She was in the perfect position to leak information to their enemies, should she want to. Assuming she wasn't already doing it. Granted, this particular conversation held nothing incriminating in it. If anything, while Marco now possessed the answer to one of his questions, he found himself carrying many more.

All he could do, he decided, was keep an even tighter watch over the girl. He would not have another Chameleone. A sense of determination filled him as he quietly jogged down the hall and out of sight, just as Ellie opened the door.

A day later, during the late afternoon, the crew could be seen celebrating. What were they celebrating? Life, Ellie supposed, as she skirted the edge of the deck. Drinks were passed around; people sang in groups; the nurses danced with some of the deck hands. Whitebeard sat cross-legged in the middle of it all, surrounded by an assortment of the crew, playing some sort of card game. She wasn't sure but judging by the big guy's constant scoffing, he was losing.

She smiled.

"Wo-o-o-o-o-a-a-ah! Lookit this!" One of the crew mates called, drawing all attention to him. He was holding a newspaper freshly delivered by the News Coo. "Those marine bastards we fought the other day were killed!"

A hush ran across the deck as he began to read:

"On the day of the 11th, two sounds of explosions were reported off the west and east coasts of the island of Alegria. Alegria, a quiet little place known for its extravagant shopping plazas and syndicate of thieves, had been under pirate attack the night before the explosions. As detectives rushed to investigate, a third one rocked the very heart of the city.

After 24 hours, Officers determined that the first two explosions came from the Marine Bases situated to the west and east sides of the ports. The third explosion happened deep underground, in what turned out to be the hide-out of the thieves. Detectives are still investigating the cause of the explosions, which killed over 30 Marines and all of the members of the thieves' gang. What connection they have, and if related to the prior pirate attack, is being looked into.

An anonymous source, who is part of the Marine Detective Unit, has released to us that a water-damaged generator was the cause of the explosion which killed the thieves."

The deck remained quiet, the last words hanging in the air.

"I bet they're going to blame it on us now." Izou snorted, breaking the silence.

"I told you we should have raided their asses!" Haruta piped in.

Whitebeard scoffed, rolling his eyes. "They're killing themselves and we get to watch. Just enjoy the show, my children."

And so slowly, the laughter and the cheering and the drinking and singing returned to the deck. They went from celebrating life to celebrating the loss of it, a macabre theme indeed. Ellie side stepped the going-ons, keen to return to her room. A hand to the shoulder stopped her just as she reached the stairs.

It was Marco. Of course.

"Quite a story, eh." He said to her, voice cool.

"Yeah." She said, nodding. Her eyebrows were raised in an expectant manner.

"Any thoughts on it?"

"No. Other than they got what was coming to them."

He didn't seem satisfied with the answer. His eyes searched her face for something. She sighed.

"Out with it." She said.

"You caused it, didn't you?"

"I wouldn't say I caused it. Sped it up a little, sure."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning I tinkered with that generator in the hideout to give it a greater chance of malfunctioning. Not really my fault they thought it'd be smart to place electricity under a room of water, though."

"And the marine explosions?" He asked, narrowing his eyes. Ellie's face remained unreadable.

After a moment, she said, "That was unavoidable."

Before Marco could question her any further, Thatch came over and caught Ellie's arm in his.

"You're out of your room? And it's not dinner time yet? Why, this is a miracle that has to be celebrated!" he smiled at her, flashing some pearly whites in the process. Ellie returned the smile and placed her hand over his arm.

"If you want." she said, shooting a glance at Marco. "We were just finishing our conversation anyway."

"Excellent! Come, come." Thatch nodded at Marco before walking off with the young girl. The last thing Ellie heard was an irritable sigh.

"I get the feeling I just saved you from something." Thatch said to Ellie once they were quite a bit away.

"Yes and no. It doesn't bother me if he's suspicious. Can't blame the guy. But he is persistent in getting me to talk."

"Wouldn't it be easier to just tell Marco? Not that I'm picking sides here, but you know I caught him sneaking around your door the other night. Telling him would save you from having to deal with that all the time."

"See, I COULD tell him but... I don't feel like it." Ellie shrugged. "The dude would probably still, like, not trust me and stuff."

"You told me and I still trust you."

"Because you're an awesomesauce person and I like you." Ellie said, grinning. "Marco there? Well... the day he takes the stick out of his ass is the day I'll tell him. At this point, he won't trust me unless I prove to him I can be trusted. Which I honestly don't have the time to waste like that, much less for a dickweed."

"Oh Ellie." Thatch sighed with a little laugh. He didn't say anything more about it, instead leading her to a small group playing a game of dominoes. Ellie recognized them as some men from Second Division, Jozu, and the nurse Irene. After the initial surprise of getting to play with a robot-cyborg-alien-demon-spy, they relaxed and the game commenced.

The festivities of the day continued on well into the night; music cut through the darkened air, exemplifying the life on the ship. Grills were brought out onto the deck and smoke danced in groups above their fires, fast and energetic until their round shapes broke off and faded into the starry sky. As if mirroring the smoke, people danced in little groups beneath them; bare foot, glasses of ale lifted high, spirits even higher. Conversations mixed together, forming that indecipherable babble of joy and laughter. A cacophonic ballad indicated the first drunks of the party, but by no means the last.

The dominoes game had long been abandoned when Nurse Irene kept winning every round. At some point, someone called her a cheat, someone flipped the domino pieces, and someone stormed off as Irene laughed over a frothy beer. Ellie and Thatch began building a fortress from the scattered domino pieces, Jozu joining them as it got too tall for them to continue on their own.

On the other side of the deck, Ace happened to be part of the musical group mentioned before; with his arms draped on someone's shoulders and the widest of grins showing all his teeth, he more than gladly sang along to this song he didn't even know the words to. But who cares if he botched the lyrics? No one would remember it tomorrow. So he let himself be immersed in the moment, spinning in pointless circles until his vision doubled and his senses became intoxicated with the dizzying sensation of both alcohol and non-stop movement from this raging party where the time seemed to stretch on endlessly in their favor, granting them this constant joy—

—but everything stops. At some point.

The problem was Ace couldn't quite figure out how he went from dancing around in a circle to getting himself stuck in a barrel. What's more he couldn't be sure where the barrel came from. Or what its contents were.

He tried to wiggle his body free. It sank about an inch deeper. Oh god, why does it feel cold down there? Ace frowned, tempted to turn himself into his logia state to bust out of it. But what if this barrel had blasting gel in it? Then he'd risk blowing up half the ship. Something no one would thank him for. Closing his eyes, he let out a stream of curses before trying to free himself again.

"Uhm… do you need help?"

Ace snapped his eyes open so fast he felt that dizziness from earlier return. Blinking in rapid successions, it took him a moment to find out where the voice came from. The robot-cyborg-alien-demon-spy! She stood a bit away from him, head tilted and smiling a little uncertainly. He could see a hint of amusement coating her face, but at least she wasn't laughing.

"If you don't mind." he said. A minute and a tug later, Ace came tumbling out the barrel and the girl— what was her name again?— stood next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder to keep him steady. He groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to orient himself and get over the slight embarrassment threatening his pride. Combing his hair back, he looked at his savior. Oh yeah. She's Ellie, not a robot-cyborg-alien-demon-spy like everyone was saying.

"Though that would be cool…" he found himself mumbling under his breath.

"What?" Ellie raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing! Thank you, I appreciate your help." he said. Stepping back and letting his arms hang, he gave her a deep bow.

"You're welcome." she said, shrugging her shoulders in a quick and twitchy way. "Just don't hurt yourself or something."

Ace grinned, rubbing the back of his head but never taking his eyes off of her. "I think I just had one too many. I won't hurt myself though, no worries there."

Ellie didn't feel convinced, and he wasn't sure why; it failed his notice that the ship wasn't the only thing swaying right now. She watched, with some bit of apprehension, as Ace's body rocked gently side-to-side. Maybe it wasn't wrong of him to say he had one too many.

"Hey buddy, how about we take a little walk together?" she decided, clapping her hands. Ace winced at the noise, frowning.

"Okay but you're not allowed to do that again." He said.

"Yeah, yeah." Ellie placed her hand against his back, pushing him forward towards where she thought his room was. After walking in silence for a few minutes, he gave her a side-ways glance, eyes narrowing a little.

"So… you're in my division and all, right?"

"Uh-huh?"

"Which means out of everybody on this ship, I deserve to know the truth. Right?"

"Uh-hu-u-uh?"

"So are you really a robot-cyborg-alien-demon-spy?"

Ellie snorted, laughing at his narrowed-eye accusatory look.

"I'm definitely not a robot or cyborg. The rest depends on your definition, I suppose."

"Pft." Ace blew some hair out of his face, shoulders sagging. "But cyborgs are so cool. Imagine how legendary I would be if I could tell people I have a cyborg in my division!"

"The Almighty Fire Fist doesn't need a cyborg in his ranks. Too much competition. He would be out-cooled in a heartbeat."

"You underestimate Fire Fist's badassery."

"I didn't know he had any badassery to begin with."

"If you spent less time in your room and more time outside, maybe you would know." He huffed.

"I would if I could but I can't so I won't." she said simply. Ace felt the dizziness returning again.

"I don't want to walk with you anymore. I want my bedroom."

"Hush, I _**am**_ taking you to your bedroom."

Ace blinked owlishly at her before looking around. When did they get inside the ship? And if he wasn't mistaken, which he could be since he was drunk, they seem to be a few levels below the deck already.

"You have to be an alien. You must have teleported us here." He decided.

"How can I be an alien if I'm a demon?" Ellie asked, not looking at him but rather around. She had a feeling she was getting closer to where the Commanders' rooms were but she couldn't quite remember. It was somewhere near her own little cupboard of a bedroom, that's all she knew.

"For some people, aliens and demons are the same thing." He pointed out.

"True." Not being able to figure out where to go anymore, Ellie stopped and looked at Ace. "Alright Almighty Fire Fist, can you figure out where your room is from here?"

Swatting away her hand, which he just realized was still on his back, he grinned.

"O' course I can. I've been on this ship for three years now."

"Really?" Ellie asked. "You must have been a baby when you first joined."

"I guess you could say that." Ace stretched his arms up, yawning. "But we've had younger people join before. Thomas from Fourth Division is only 14."

"Huh. That sucks." She said. Ace raised an eyebrow.

"Why does that suck?"

"Well, most people who become pirates do so to get away from something. Right? So imagine what could have caused such a young child to rush to the seas. It must have been pretty bad."

"I guess." Ace looked down for a moment, his own mind going back to Mt. Corvo and his days with Sabo. He shook his head before looking back up, staring her in the eye.

"Hey, thank you though. Really." He said.

"For what, I'm sorry?" Ellie scrunched her face in confusion.

"For…" Ace shrugged, gesturing with his hands. "Y'know, getting me out the barrel, making sure I get to my room, fixing up my inventory thing. I've seen your progress. Funny, I never knew I had a couch and table in there."

"Oh, no, it's fine. It's the least I can do." She smiled, eyes crinkling. He stared at her face for a moment, noticing how the glow of the torches caught the gold in her eyes.

"I don't really think you're an alien or demon. You're too nice." He said. With that, he dismissed her; walking and stumbling to the direction of his room. Ellie stared after him for a few moments before snorting again. As she turned to go to her own room, she felt one of her pouches vibrate. Pressing her hand to her ear, she turned on the little device on it before speaking.

"Go ahead."

Her lips curved into a smirk after a pause.

"Good. I'll be on land by tomorrow. Stage two will start then."

* * *

A/N: Aaaaand finished! And it only took me four months. -_-' I guess I'm going to be one of those authors, huh? Sorry folks. The semester ended a month ago but a co-worker of mine was in a car crash so I'm working extra. Meaning, more money but less time.

Anyway, I hope this chapter wasn't a major disappointment! Since I take so long between updates, I try to make them long-ish! One thing I hate is when someone takes forever to update and when they do, it's a very short chapter. It's happened to me twice, recently. .-.

This chapter was more of a "introduce-Ellie" chapter. I was hoping to shed a little light on her character, start her friendships with certain people, while also dropping hints to what she really is. Good? Bad? Got some constructive criticism? Want to write a flame? Review and let me know!

A big, HUGE thanks goes out to those of you who have reviewed! Shiningheart of ThunderClan, PortgasDLisanna, aaroniteXkryptonite, UNICORNSPOOPRAINBOWS, NekoKitty13, and Kuruoop, I'm looking at you! Those of you who haven't reviewed, but have followed/fav'ed my story also have my heart. These are the kind of little things that keep me writing, even if it takes four months to update.

And, of course, I'm going to thank my two real-life best friends for reading this even though they've never read or seen One Piece. :3

Until next time~

Fun fact: The barrel Ace was sitting on at the start of the chapter is the same one he got stuck in. ;)


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